You know how sometimes when you go in the gas station to pay and you’re just going get a couple of pennies back, so you say, oh, just keep the change?
Well, the government’s been keeping a lot of my change, and yours too. And it’s been going on for some time now. The penny cup for state government now tops anywhere between $4.75 billion to $5.15 billion depending on whose figures you follow. That’s a lot of change. Conservatives believe it’s time to give some of that back to the taxpayer.
House Republicans have been pushing for tax cuts for some time now. We’ve passed bills in regular and special sessions. Last week, the governor called the 59th Legislature into its third special session, this time with only one call: cut the income tax by 0.25%.
This would take the top income bracket in the state from 4.75% to 4.5%, and what many are ignoring is the fact that it would completely zero out the amount the lowest earners in the state pay. This isn’t a tax cut for the rich. It’s a tax cut for everyone.
I’ve heard the arguments that we must keep saving for the rainy day we all know will eventually come. When that comes, the government just like every other Oklahoman will have to tighten its fiscal belt.
I’ve also heard the argument that we don’t have certified revenue figures yet. But we have estimates that show we’ll have as much as $13.9 billion to spend on state services. And again, no matter who’s figures you believe, we still have record-high savings. If we don’t have the will to cut taxes in this climate, we probably never will.
In our system of government, we all agree there are certain things the citizens will pay taxes to provide to the whole – education, transportation, public safety. We’ve even tacked health care onto that list and plenty of other things. But at the end of the day, the money doesn’t belong to the government. It belongs to the taxpayer. If there’s a surplus, they should get it back to decide how it should be spent.
The House answered the governor’s call to convene in special session as we are constitutionally required to do. And we took it seriously, as we should. We passed a bill that would accomplish the quarter-percent income tax cut. The state Senate, however, adjourned to a call of the chair without hearing our legislation. Nonetheless, our regular legislative session starts next week, and we’ll have other tax cuts to put up for a vote in the House. Here’s hoping the Senate will come around and we can pass something into law that will allow Oklahoma taxpayers to keep more of the change.
Regular session convenes at noon Monday, Feb. 5, when we’ll here the governor give his annual State of the State address. On Wednesday, Feb. 7, we’ll observe Rose Day, a day when people who value life bring roses to their legislators to remind them that all life is precious, even life in the womb.
As always, if I can help you with anything, feel free to call my Capitol office at (405) 557-7413 or email me at rick.west@okhouse.gov.
Rick West serves District 3 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes part of LeFlore County.
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